Christine Regalla
Northern Arizona University, AZ·Earth & Environmental Science
Geology is increasingly a team sport: groups of researchers measure rocks together in the field and then examine the same samples under microscopes in different labs. The software they use to record observations, however, is generally built for one person working alone, which makes it hard to combine observations, trace how an interpretation developed, or share data across subfields.
- Fields
Earth & Environmental Science
Computer Science
- Topics
subduction zones
StraboSpot
geoinformatics
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Dec 2026
What they work on
- Extend the StraboSpot geologic data system to support group-level workflows, so multiple researchers can collect, store and interpret shared field and laboratory data collaboratively rather than individually.
- Define community workflow and data-discovery requirements through a series of workshops with the SZ4D (Subduction Zones in Four Dimensions) community, whose members study megathrust earthquakes, strike-slip faults and volcanoes.
- Implement versioning in the collaborative data environment to record how datasets and interpretations evolve, supporting group work and making the development of scientific ideas transparent.
- Release the resulting collaborative cyberinfrastructure to the wider geological community through StraboSpot, enabling data sharing within and across geological disciplines.
More about the research
This project addresses that gap by building the digital infrastructure needed for geologists to collect and interpret data as a group.
Why it matters
Subduction zone research underpins hazard assessment for megathrust earthquakes, faults and volcanic eruptions, and that research depends on combining field observations with laboratory measurements made by different specialists. Shared, versioned workflows could let these datasets be merged and reinterpreted rather than remaining siloed, and could make the path from observation to interpretation traceable for anyone reusing the data.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Carolyn Tewksbury-Christle
Fort Lewis College, CO·Earth & Environmental Science
Test whether slow slip and tremor are preferentially hosted by metasedimentary or meta-mafic rocks, using fieldwork, geochemistry, geochronology and microstructural analysis of three exhumed subduction complexes.
James Kirkpatrick
University of Nevada-Reno, NV·Earth & Environmental Science
Characterize where permeability and fluid flow are concentrated in the Japan Trench fault zone using temperature and pressure records from subseafloor borehole observatories at IODP Site C0019.
Daven Quinn
University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI·Earth & Environmental Science
Build data pipelines that move geologic maps, stratigraphic columns and cross-sections from the StraboSpot field app into Macrostrat's multiscale crustal model, keeping supporting records such as photos and measurements.
The school
Northern Arizona University: 4 labs on PI Pages, $94M a year on research, 86 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
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